Wind instruments are musical instruments that typically include some type of resonator. A column of air is vibrated by a user blowing air into or over a mouthpiece located at the end of a resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube in conjunction with modifications of the effective length of the vibrating column of air. In a similar way, vocalists use air to produce pitches. Examples of common wind instruments include horns, trumpets, recorders, flutes, and saxophones.
Musicians playing wind instruments or vocalists require high levels of lung capacity and lung, diaphragm and surrounding muscles/areas of the anatomy control to hit the applicable notes and note lengths while playing a composition. Each wind instrument or voice requires different levels of air regulation and exhaling. Plus, musical compositions vary in difficulty, thereby increasing the lung demand on the musician playing the instrument.
A musician must have the lung, diaphragm, and surrounding muscles/areas of the anatomy control and capacity to breath sufficient air into the instrument to properly play or sing the musical notes and timing required in the musical composition. Although there are a myriad of exercise equipment to exercise a person's muscles or increase their cardiovascular stamina, there has been a need to develop a device and method to increase a person's lung, diaphragm and surrounding muscles/areas of the anatomy strength and capacity.
Often, a new student, without training, can only play certain wind instruments for a limited period of time before they run out of air, i.e. they become “winded.” The more the student plays the instrument over time, the student's lung capacity and strength increases due to the training. However, this takes a long time to occur as the training only occurs as the student practices with the instrument. The size of some wind instruments makes playing frequent playing difficult. Also, some environments do not allow students to practice frequently due to the loud noise emanating from the wind instrument.
There are some devices in the market that develop air capacity for users. However, these devices do not have a system to train a person's lung, diaphragm and surrounding muscles/areas of the anatomy by regulating weight suspended in air. Moreover, existing devices do not mimic musical instruments for training purposes.
As such, there is a need for a lung, diaphragm and surrounding muscles/areas of the anatomy control and capacity training device and method that changes based on the user's needs. As the user learns to use an instrument or voice and advances to a more complex level, the user needs to increase the user's lung capacity, strength and control. The training requires a calculated system to increase a user's lung capacity, strength and control based on current and future needs.
As can be derived from the variety of devices and methods directed at increasing lung, diaphragm and surrounding muscles/areas of the anatomy strength, capacity and control, many means have been contemplated to accomplish the desired end, i.e., training a user's lungs. Thus, there is a long-felt need for a device and method to aid a user in increasing their lung capacity, strength and control.
The inventors identified herein have created such a device as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/697,779 incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. That invention provides an elegant device and method of using weighted inserts to measure and control lung, diaphragm and surrounding muscles/areas of the anatomy strength training. However, said invention has been further improved in the manner in which the weights can be changed, which it can be cleaned, its ability to regulate airflow, and in its use in classrooms and competitive environments as described herein.